fossick /ˈfɒsɪk/ (v.) 1. to rummage through abandoned diggings in search of gems others missed. 2. to unearth brilliant indie games nobody is playing yet.
Great games almost nobody found.
We rank Steam's long tail by an overlooked score — quality the crowd agrees on, weighted up when almost nobody's found it yet. Not the bestsellers. The buried ones.
34,112 scanned
→ 29,260 with enough reviews to judge
→ 8,640 cleared the quality bar (top ~quarter)
🎲 Surprise me
◆ Top hidden gems
Quality × hiddenness × deserve gap × grassroots — every badge explains why.
#1◆ 88Sophstar
🕳 ×10 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Action, Indie
▮ ~4k players$9.99
#2◆ 88Rocket Boots Mania
🕳 ×11 gap🌱 Solo grassroots✅ Organic reviews
Racing, Sports
▮ ~6k players$14.99
#3◆ 88Eigengrau
🕳 ×13 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Action, Indie
▮ ~3k players$9.99
#4◆ 88Seiga Kaku uses her amazing Taoist arts and gives you a life lesson
🕳 ×10 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Casual
▮ ~3k players$0.99
#5◆ 88Herta's Chess Game
🕳 ×12 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Strategy, Free To Play
▮ ~3k playersFree
#6◆ 88Astro Pig
🕳 ×12 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Adventure, Indie
▮ ~3k players$9.99
#7◆ 88Ballads of Reemus: When the Bed Bites
🕳 ×32 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Adventure, Casual, Indie
▮ ~3k players$4.99
#8◆ 88RoGlass
🕳 ×10 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Casual, Indie, Strategy
▮ ~4k players$9.99
#9◆ 88TWWWR
🕳 ×12 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Action, Adventure, Indie
▮ ~2k players$3.99
#10◆ 88Fledgling Manor
🕳 ×8 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Indie, Simulation
▮ ~5k players$11.75
#11◆ 88Infinos Gaiden
🕳 ×20 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Action, Indie
▮ ~3k players$10.99
#12◆ 87The Last Cube
🕳 ×26 gap🌱 Solo grassroots✅ Organic reviews
Adventure, Casual, Indie
▮ ~5k players$19.99
🌅 Fresh finds
Strong early reviews, released within the year — catch them before the algorithm decides.
◆ 77Voltage High Society
🌅 Just out🕳 ×5 gap
Action, Indie
▮ ~5k players$19.99
◆ 83Icaria
🌅 Just out🕳 ×16 gap🌱 Solo grassroots
Simulation
▮ ~1k players$24.99
◆ 71Melody's Escape 2
🌅 Just out🌱 Solo grassroots🔁 Franchise
Indie
▮ ~12k players$14.99
◆ 83Project Absentia
🌅 Just out🕳 ×25 gap🪙 Buried treasure
Action, Indie
▮ ~2k players$19.99
◆ 74CYBERMATRIX
🌅 Just out🌱 Solo grassroots
Action, Indie
▮ ~5k players$12.00
◆ 64Easy Pose
🌅 Just out🌱 Solo grassroots
▮ ~36k players$12.99
◆ 77XF Extreme Formula
🌅 Just out
Action, Racing
▮ ~7k players$11.99
◆ 71Midnight Special
🌅 Just out
Indie
▮ ~5k players$14.99
🕳 The deserve gap
Games with several times fewer players than their quality, age and price predict.
◆ 74Train Simulator: Pacific Surfliner LA - San Diego Route
🕳 ×100 gap📈 Rising🪙 Buried treasure
Simulation
▮ ~2k players$19.99
◆ 82Rising Storm Game of the Year Edition
🕳 ×90 gap🪙 Buried treasure🔁 Franchise
Action
▮ ~4k players$19.99
◆ 80The Donnerwald Experiment
🕳 ×75 gap🌱 Solo grassroots✅ Organic reviews
Indie, RPG, Early Access
▮ ~1k players$19.99
◆ 78RPG Maker VX Ace Lite
🕳 ×63 gap
▮ ~6k players$69.99
◆ 73Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue
🕳 ×60 gap
Simulation, Strategy
▮ ~3k players$39.99
◆ 78Dark Parables: The Final Cinderella Collector's Edition
🕳 ×60 gap🪙 Buried treasure
Adventure, Casual
▮ ~2k players$19.99
◆ 77Maze: Subject 360 Collector's Edition
🕳 ×54 gap🪙 Buried treasure
Adventure, Casual
▮ ~2k players$19.99
◆ 82Gods of the Twilight
🕳 ×54 gap🌱 Solo grassroots✅ Organic reviews
Adventure, Casual, Early Access
▮ ~840 players$19.99
🚀 Should be huge
Hidden gems have levels: these already found a crowd — and deserve a far bigger one.
◆ 60Kabuto Park
💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Casual, Indie, RPG, Simulation, Strategy
▮ ~41k players$4.99
◆ 37The WereCleaner
💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Action, Casual, Indie, Strategy, Free To Play
▮ ~405k playersFree
◆ 52Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue - EXTRA2
💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Adventure, Casual, Sports
▮ ~71k players$24.99
◆ 50A Tower Full of Cats
💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Adventure, Casual
▮ ~79k players$5.99
◆ 42A Castle Full of Cats
💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Adventure, Casual
▮ ~160k players$3.99
◆ 51Aventura Copilului Albastru și Urât
🌱 Solo grassroots💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Adventure, Casual, Indie
▮ ~99k players-25% $1.49
◆ 48The Upturned
💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Action, Adventure, Indie
▮ ~95k players$9.99
◆ 36Papa's Freezeria Deluxe
💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Action, Casual, Indie, Simulation, Strategy
▮ ~453k players-20% $4.79
Flawless & tiny
Overwhelmingly loved, still barely owned.
◆ 85Bakahazard 1+2
🕳 ×4 gap🌱 Solo grassroots💎 Genre outlier
Adventure, RPG
▮ ~8k players$3.99
◆ 85MareQuest: An Interactive Tail
🕳 ×4 gap🌱 Solo grassroots✅ Organic reviews
Adventure, Casual, Indie, RPG
▮ ~8k players$4.99
◆ 84UOS Prototype
🕳 ×5 gap🌱 Solo grassroots✅ Organic reviews
Early Access
▮ ~7k playersFree
◆ 85Misericorde Volume Two: White Wool & Snow
🕳 ×5 gap🌱 Solo grassroots💎 Genre outlier
Indie
▮ ~7k players$13.99
◆ 82PRODUCER 2021
🕳 ×6 gap✅ Organic reviews
Adventure, RPG, Simulation
▮ ~7k players$9.99
◆ 86Scarmonde
🕳 ×5 gap🌱 Solo grassroots✅ Organic reviews
Adventure, Indie, RPG
▮ ~7k players-45% $7.69
◆ 86TETRACHROMA
🕳 ×5 gap🌱 Solo grassroots💎 Genre outlier
Action, Casual
▮ ~6k players$4.99
◆ 85Larcin Lazer
🕳 ×8 gap💎 Genre outlier✅ Organic reviews
Action, Casual, Indie
▮ ~5k players$9.99
Deeply buried
Fewer than 60 reviews. The true long tail.
◆ 87Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy
🕳 ×9 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Indie, RPG
▮ ~2k players-72% $2.79
◆ 87These Darker Tides
🕳 ×9 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Indie, Simulation
▮ ~2k players$7.99
◆ 87Ichima-san
🕳 ×8 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Action, Adventure, Indie
▮ ~2k players$10.99
◆ 86Wizard Warfare
🕳 ×9 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Indie, Strategy
▮ ~2k players$6.99
◆ 86Unbreakable Vr Runner
🕳 ×8 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Action, Adventure, Indie, Sports
▮ ~2k players$3.99
◆ 86Vactics
🕳 ×9 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Strategy
▮ ~2k players$10.99
◆ 86Closer To Home
🕳 ×8 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Casual, Indie
▮ ~2k players$9.99
◆ 86Lost Frontier
🕳 ×8 gap🌱 Solo grassroots🪙 Buried treasure
Indie, Strategy
▮ ~2k players$4.99
Still being played
Players seen in-game at our latest crawl.
◆ 49DELTARUNE
🌱 Solo grassroots💎 Genre outlier🚀 Should be huge
Indie, RPG
▮ ~113k players-20% $19.99
◆ 26Football Manager 2024
Simulation, Sports, Strategy
▮ ~922k players$59.99
◆ 34Crosshair X
🌱 Solo grassroots
Action, Adventure, Indie, Software Training, Utilities
▮ ~1.3M players$1.99
◆ 37FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time
🌱 Solo grassroots
RPG
▮ ~304k players$59.99
◆ 39VTube Studio
🌱 Solo grassroots
Indie, Animation & Modeling, Video Production
▮ ~228k playersFree
◆ 47YoloMouse - Cursor Changer
🌱 Solo grassroots
Action, Indie, Free To Play, Animation & Modeling, Design & Illustration, Education, Photo Editing, Software Training, Utilities, Game Development
▮ ~93k players$4.99
◆ 29Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
Action, Adventure, Indie, RPG
▮ ~459k players$44.99
◆ 28Sultan's Game
Adventure, Indie, RPG, Simulation, Strategy
▮ ~875k players$24.99